Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

An avalanche of molten lava, piercing lightning, unrivalled swordplay, bodies honed for combat, all else was foggy apart from this furious dance, all meeting onto a single, loathsome target, who dispelled all efforts with naught but a step forward.

One blink and all those of the valiant alliance laid broken upon the ground, rivers of blood, a sanguine ocean rising from the soil, which was made up of nothing known, an endlessly repeating pattern, the realisation brought distraction, the fear had arrived, looming over, casting a most vile, dark shadow.

Reaching forward, one could not fight back, all swings and attempts to move back were met with absolute meaninglessness.

Finally, the frigid hand reached her.

"Ah…" Antieeld awoke drenched sweat, as though she had run three marathons back to back whilst carrying the world upon her shoulders.

This had become a common occurrence, not just for her, but for all who had come into contact with the wretched undead, Antieeld herself had never even faced him in battle, but somehow, she could perceive him with frightening clarity, the black mantle, the cage-like visor, the deep purple glow that seemed to come from somewhere other, down to every little detail.

It was even worse for those who had actually faced the being, and even worse yet for those who had been gravely injured, pain would often arise from the limbs and parts they had lost, as though they were struck once again, and it did not stop even as the lost limbs began to be replaced by prosthetics of stone, although the work of the odd carver was being simple replacements, it wasn't just a physical recovery of their arms and legs, but also a spiritual one, in literal terms, filling in the gap left in their souls, minds and whatever else caused by the loss, indeed, the dreadful one inflicted wounds deep than flesh and bones.

Antieeld rose from her bed, after a rather long time, everyone had managed to learn a fair bit of this realm's language, and with time, a certain trust grew in between them and the inhabitants, all survivors of Tamaris were invited to live alongside the beast and sun worshippers, as it turns out, even the carver, who seemed like an ostracised member of this society, had always been free to come, confirming it himself.

The commandant found it hard to believe, the people of this realm were simply too kind for it to be truthful, and yet, never did anything come to challenge that idea, having visited their libraries and archives, it seemed like this state had been earned through much tribulations.

Norm had turned to an utter focus on worship, so much so that all else had because derisory, the beast worshippers, who gave the impressions of a warmongering lot, who practised combat and honed their skills like their lives depended on it, but it was all a part of their prayers, to be strong like beasts, to be ferocious like them, but they didn't just want to be beasts, they sought to ally the qualities of their sapient form with what they viewed as the unrivalled power of this world.

Even the sun worshippers, they appeared like peaceful people at a glance, but two of their castes clearly bore names relating to fighting, battlemonks and warriors, they too followed a path of martial prowess and power, which they believed was necessary to better commune with the emerald sun, who was to them an all-powerful, omnipotent force.

To properly pray to such a mastodon, one needed to be powerful themselves.

She stood up and moved to the window, the night's fresh air washed over her skin, the moon's reflected green light casted wide shadows into the room, gazing up at the moon for a few moments, the sound of gentle footsteps arrived before the door, knocking followed. Continue your journey at My Virtual Library Empire

Taking some time to push drenched hair out of her face, Antieeld told the person to come in, their smooth grey skin shrouded with smoke making the person appear as just an ample green cloak that floated through the air.

"Herald… Ioleznta?" hesitating for a moment, not wanting to mess up the woman's name, amongst the emerald herald and divine dancing priestesses Antieeld had gotten to meet over time, only Ioleznta seemed like a an actual person, the others had been more akin to background figures, the heralds and priestesses were sort of a folklore in this realm, she had been around exalted rulers and warriors herself, but the presence of the upper echelon of the Emerald Realm was something else entirely.

"I could not help but hear you dreaming, you and your companions seem to be having nightmare of this knight every night, I realise that it is not proper for me to ask like this, but I had been wondering- I know that you came from beyond the emerald sky, but you and your friends have always been elusive about the why, I and the others could sense that you held no malice, so we did not push further…"@@novelbin@@

The herald seemed to be hovering as she stepped closer, removing the hood from her head, pure white hair falling over both shoulders, all steps and movements soundless.

"...But I am a curious herald, a priestess told me I should have followed the way of the beast as I was so much like a cat… So, who is this 'Loimos' character? An old adversary? Ooh, a former lover perhaps?-"

"No! Nothing like that Herald Ioleznta! The last part I mean… Loimos is… Do you know what an undead is?" Antieeld asked, a bit put off by the herald's enthusiasm.

"Un-Dead? Something that should be dead but is still alive?

Is it something similar to our spirit life?" she said, likening the concept to their own form of after life, indeed, one reason that allowed Antieeld to sleep better at night was the fact that death was pretty much non-existent in the Emerald Realm, one's essence, as it was called here, would linger on after the body passed and break down into particles, leading them to nourishing the realm itself.

This small instant was referred to as 'spirit life', Antieeld did not see how it counted as a life, but it certainly did not quite seem like the death she knew.

"The name is a bit misleading, the undead are actually dead, it is just that… Well, outside the Emerald Realm, death is not just the end of life, it can be the beginning of a corrupted existence…"

"Mmh, do explain in greater detail, that sounds mighty interesting!"

'I was hoping to go back to sleep…' Antieeld did not say that aloud, it was a rather good opportunity to exchange with a herald, but she was certainly expecting to be tired tomorrow.